Blocked Memories Can Open Unseen Doors
by AllegroConBrio
Summary: okay, might not be my best story, but hey, it still has Kyoru pairing... What happens when Tohru goes missing? Short, sweet, and to the point: might be a little lacking in the explanation department...
1. Chapter 1

**Arright everyone, my long awaited (at least by my aching fingers) second Fruba Fanfic is finally finito! Yes, yes, hold your applause... (you weren't clapping, were you?) well, I don't think that you don't know, but I MOST DEFINITELY DO NOT OWN FRUITS BASKET. I do happen to own this story, though...**

**...**

**GOOD GRACIOUS, I HAVEN'T DONE DISCLAIMERS FOR MY OTHER FANFICS, EITHER-- WELL, I NO OWN, err, lets see here; I DON'T OWN TOKYO MEW MEW OR PRINCESS TUTU EITHER... but i wish i did... :(**

Kyo woke up, just like any other normal day, and realized that something was wrong. There was no clatter of pots and pans in the kitchen, no soft humming, and no scent of a delicious breakfast wafting through the air. He bounded down the stairs, expecting that Tohru would be there, but was surprised to find that she wasn't. Kyo looked around half-heartedly, expecting that she had just gone to the grocery store or something.

Soon Yuki came stumbling down the stairs, rubbing his eyes and mumbling in his usual morning stupor. "Wheresmisshondaaa?"

Kyo whirled, angered by the presence of the rat. "Shut up! I don't know."

Still groggy, the response by the cat didn't click in Yuki's head. A few moments later, his eyes snapped open, realizing what Kyo had said. "What do you mean, you don't know?"

Running his tan hand through his vivid orange hair, Kyo sighed, annoyed. "Just like I said. I don't know where she is. I woke up this morning and came downstairs, and she wasn't here. I already checked around here anyway... I bet she just accidentally slept in again. I'll go check..."

Yuki sat down as Kyo went upstairs.

Kyo noticed something was wrong immediately. It wasn't the tipped over nightstand, or the broken window. No, he noticed those later. What he did notice immediately that told him something was amiss was that Tohru's bed was_ unmade_.

Yuki's head snapped up as he heard a crash from upstairs. "What in the--?"

Thumping down the stairs, a stunned Kyo nearly tripped on the last step, and Yuki looked at the cat, wondering what was up. "What was that thud?" Yuki asked Kyo.

"She-- There's no-- It wasn't--!" Kyo stuttered.

Yuki grabbed the cat and shook him, stopping Kyo from babbling any longer. "Stop being stupid, you stupid cat and just tell me what is going on!" Yuki nearly yelled, struggling to keep his cool.

Eyes spinning, Kyo sat down and took a deep breath. _Just like Shishou taught me, _he thought. Soon he was relaxed enough to tell Yuki what had happened. "When I went up there, the door was open, so I went in, but-- her bed wasn't made...!" Kyo burst. Yuki gasped- Tohru not making her bed before leaving the house was like the Cookie Monster not eating cookies; unthinkable.

"Other than her bed not being made,--" _There's more?!_ "Her window was broken. Someone must have done something."

The news sunk in slowly, and both teens found themselves fearing the worst. Where could she have gone?

They searched, but before they knew it, the sun was going down, and they still hadn't seen any clue as to where the brown-haired girl was. Heads hung low, they decided to head home for the night, hoping that wherever she was, she wasn't in trouble.

Day two of a Sohma household without Tohru, and Kyo's eyes snapped open. _No way. There is absolutely no way that this is possible!_ His nose was deceiving him! The scent of breakfast was NOT wafting through the house. **(A/N: I started listening to the Indiana Jones theme song somewhere around here! tee hee!)**Throwing back the covers he sprinted down the steps to the kitchen, where lo and behold, stood Tohru! **(A/N: BWAH HA HA HA HA! right here is where the cute slow romantic part of the theme song started. I can just imagine Kyo standing there, dumbstruck, as Tohru turns around, smiling her dork smile with little roses and sparkles and stuff. *sigh*)** Kyo's eyes widened in disbelief, and he stood there, mouth opening and closing slowly, as if he was trying to speak. She turned, and Kyo felt his heart plummeting. It wasn't-- How could he have mistaken Kagura for Tohru? **(A/N: Ha! You thought that I would make a happy ending there, didn't you?) **Kyo sighed, and Kagura picked up on his disappointment almost immediately. "KYO! I'VE MISSED YOU SO MUCH, DARLING!!-- why aren't you running?"

Kyo fell to his knees, and tears threatened at his eyes. "Where could she have possibly gone?!" he growled, sadness turning to anger. "Why isn't she back yet? I--" he bit his lip to stop himself from saying too much in front of Kagura. He absolutely refused to let Kagura know his feelings for Tohru before Tohru herself knew.

Much to Kyo's relief, the door opened, and Kagura was distracted. Yuki walked in, along with a large walking blanket. _Wait a WALKING... BLANKET?!?!_ Kyo whipped around, nearly falling over. _--couldn't be!_

Yuki turned to the blanketed bundle, put a hand on its shoulder, and murmured something softly. He gently pulled the blanket back slowly, revealing first chocolate brown hair, frizzy and unbrushed, with small yellow bows tangled in the mess, then bright blue eyes, which were oddly glazed over. "Tohru!"

Kagura and Yuki turned to Kyo, who had just yelled, undoubtedly waking the Shigure and any neighbors around the Sohma house. Tohru cringed; and, covering her ears, fell to the floor, curling up into a ball. Yuki glared at Kyo. "You baka-neko!" he hissed.

Yuki turned, motioning for Kyo to follow him. Once in the other room, Kyo blinked. "What was wrong with her?"

Sighing, Yuki sat down. "I found Tohru early this morning, and I would have come right back here with her, but-- she ran away from me... I had to go and catch her."

Yuki's words sank in slowly. "But, why? She knows us-- and trusts us!" Kyo faltered, words failing him.

Yuki nodded slowly. "Something terrible must have happened to her. Maybe we should call Hatori?"

"No. No calling Hatori. We should just try to talk to her. Hopefully she'll remember us..."

About two hours later, the cat and rat had gotten nowhere with jogging the memory of their beloved onigiri. "Tohru?" Kyo asked quietly, "Tohru-- you remember us, right?"

Confusion and fear clouded her eyes, and Kyo felt like giving her a hug, making all of the bad things just go away. But he couldn't. He knew for a fact that Yuki would kill him with a glare alone. Also, the lesser reason that he would never admit to, was that he just couldn't make himself do it.

"Tohru," Kyo whispered into her ear, causing to shrink from his hand, which was on her shoulder. "Tohru, I'm so sorry that I wasn't there to help you..." he looked away, tears in his eyes, "and now I'm paying the price, aren't I?" **(A/N: Poor Kyo! I just want to give him a hug!)**

Yuki nearly felt sorry for Kyo. Key word: nearly. He still felt as though Kyo wasn't as good as the rest of the former zodiac members, and he believed that he was simply not good enough for a girl like Tohru. Speaking of; the girl seemed to be getting better, and thanks to the cat, no less! Looking up, Yuki caught a glimpse of Kagura, standing in the doorway, and was glad that she knew to keep her distance and her silence, too.

There was a small thud over where Kyo and Tohru sat, and Yuki's head swiveled around to see what had happened. A tea cup had fallen from the numb hand of Tohru, who had been caught off guard when Kyo had suddenly pulled her into a warm embrace. A single tear wound its way slowly down Kyo's face, and he was mumbling something unintelligible into Tohru's hair. The brunette's eyes widened and she paled as if she had just seen a ghost. "K-K-Kyo...?" she said slowly, as if saying his name for the first time.

Kyo fell back as if she had burned him. "Tohru? You-- remember me?"

Big brown eyes blinked repeatedly. "Of course I remember you, Kyo! ...That's weird. I feel like I've just been asleep for a long time..."

Yuki sighed and got up, deciding to leave Kyo and Tohru to themselves. Kyo exhaled, relieved. "What happened?"

Once they were alone, Kyo turned back to Tohru. "We woke up yesterday and you were gone. Don't you remember?" he asked slowly.

Shaking her head, Tohru sat back, putting her hand on her head. "Oh my goodness," she gasped. Kyo's head snapped up.

"What?"

Tohru stood up, blushing slightly. "I really have to brush my hair. I'll be back-- you probably haven't had breakfast yet, have you?"

The onigiri left the room, and Yuki walked back in. "So she didn't remember?"

Kyo shook his head. "No," he said thoughtfully, "That is kinda weird, isn't it? I mean, she should remember something-- shouldn't she?"

Yuki sat down, puzzled. "I should think so, but--"

Suddenly, Shigure came in, smiling stupidly. "Did mine eyes deceive me, or was that our precious flower out there in the hall?"

"Quit it, you pervert," both the cat and rat yelled.

Yuki continued. "Yes, Shigure, it was Miss Honda, but she doesn't remember what happened..."

Shigure's smile faded. "Oh, very serious indeed... You say she has no recollection of what may have happened?"

Kyo nodded, and Yuki listened quietly.

"Do you think that she might be blocking it?"

"What do you mean, 'blocking it'?" Kyo and Yuki asked simultaneously.

"When something traumatic happens to someone, their mind might make a wall, blocking that memory off from the rest of their thoughts. In a way, it is like forgetting that whatever-it-was ever happened," Shigure explained.

After hearing this, all three quieted, retreating to their own thoughts. Kyo's head was spinning. _What happened to her out there? Will she still be the same Tohru Honda? ... If she isn't, I would be very sad... wait--WHAT THE HECK?! Did I REALLY just think that? _He reddened, and shook his head. "--Jeez! I mean, of course I like her, but--" he paused, his eyes widening.

Yuki looked at him with his owlish eyes. Shigure snickered. Kyo felt like dying.

"So-- you should tell her that yourself, then."

The dog, cat, and rat all turned to see the boar, Kagura, standing in the doorway. Kyo was surprised. "You're not-- mad?"

Kagura frowned slightly. "I should be, right? But I'm not... I actually guessed that you liked her, but I just didn't want to share my darling Kyo, I guess."

Kyo was floored; since when did Kagura know? And when did he actually admit to himself that he loved Tohru? Yuki broke his thoughts. "Hey, you baka-neko, go talk to her. We all know, so why not clue her in, too?"

The last think Kyo expected to come from that rat had just hit his ears. Was his sworn enemy actually giving him advice? Luckily enough for him, he body reacted faster than his mind did. Before he knew it, he was halfway up the stairs.

_The first big step in this new story..._


	2. Chapter 2

_**Well, here i am with the second chapter of my story. Yes, i know that it is short, but i've been having problems with Writers Block... bleh. so, humor me for a while. i know i haven't uploaded anything lately, but i'll try to get back on the publishing horse~!**_

_

* * *

_

Were there always this many stairs?! What idiot had designed the house anyway?

Kyo was nearly pulling his hair out in anticipation, knowing that once he got to the top of the stairs, it was only a few steps more before he confessed to Tohru. He reddened at just the thought of it.

Shigure sat in the living room, along with Yuki, and Kagura. A dumb smile plastered on, Shigure leaned over and nudged Yuki. "So, what do you think will happen up there? Should we leave the house to them? Or maybe they'll both be gone when we get up tomorrow?"

In a flash, Shigure's head was through the table, and Yuki sat just as calm as always. Kagura blinked uneasily.

Kyo had finally reached the top of the stairs, and looked back down nervously. No one was watching him from below, so maybe he could just sneak away and not tell To- "Don't even think about it, baka-neko," came a voice from the bottom of the stairs.

Kyo whirled to see the gray **(A/N: grey?)** hair and startlingly purple eyes of the rat. "Can't you just leave me alone? Ever?!"

Yuki took two menacing steps up the stairs. "If you do ANYTHING to make Miss Honda sad or uncomfortable, I...WILL...KILL...YOU."

Something in the nezumi's eyes told Kyo to refrain from saying anything back. Instead, he started to slink away. Unfortunately, there was no escape from the vigilance of the purple-eyed rat. Just as Kyo was passing Tohru's door to go to his own room, Yuki's voice came from behind him. "You'd better turn around right now, go in her door, and tell her, or I will beat you to her, and you won't have a chance."

Kyo turned around, glaring. "You wouldn't dare."

"Do you really want to wait and find out?" was the venomous response.

On the inside, Kyo was screaming in frustration. There was absolutely no way he would let the kuso-nezumi get anywhere near HIS Tohru. Of course, his outer appearance was exactly the opposite. Well, almost.

Yuki stepped towards the closed door of Tohru's room, glaring at Kyo. Kyo's first instinct was, well, that of a cat. He hissed. Hunching his shoulders, he hissed, baring his teeth. His hair stood on end. Yuki, rat that he was, was thoroughly stunned. Before he knew it, he was sliding down the opposite wall after being thrown by the furious cat.

Startled by the thud from above, Shigure looked up, hoping that whatever was going on on the upper level of his house did not include destroying it. He stood up and moved toward the stairwell, nervous about what sight awaited him at the top. "Yuki? Kyo? You guys aren't wrecking my house, are you?" he called quietly.

Yuki came down, limping slightly with a mix of smugness and shock plastered on his face. Kagura and Shigure were puzzled, to say the least. "So what exactly happened up there?" prodded Shigure.

Yuki half smiled and said in his usual tone, "Kyo just needed some--_persuasion_ is all."

Meanwhile...

Tohru opened her door to see what was going on and was startled to see Kyo standing right in front of her, hand poised as if to knock. He quickly shoved his hand in his pocket and turned a dark shade of red. "I-- eh, well, you see... umm?" he said helplessly, his free hand dangling at his side.

_AAAAH! I'M SUCH AN IDIOT! WHY CAN'T I THINK WHEN SHE'S AROUND?! _Kyo though as he stood staring straight into this big, beautiful, brown eyes. "Oh heck."

The look on Tohru's face clearly stated that she was not expecting him to say that. "Pardon?" she said, wondering if she had heard him right.

"Ah, that's not what I meant to say..." Kyo said quietly, hanging his head. "... I'm hopeless, aren't I?"

"What?" Tohru asked, "NO! Kyo! You most definitely are not hopeless! What's wrong?"

He looked up, staring, instead of at her eyes, her hair. "Ah, you've, uhh, there's somethin'..." he pointed weakly at her hair, which had a twig tangled in it.

"What? OH! Oh my," Tohru grabbed the branch and turned around, embarrassed.

She fiddled with the stick for a few moments before Kyo lost patience. "Hey, let me--"

He grabbed her shoulders and spun her around, so he could untangle the offending twig from her hair. "Hold still, would ya?" Kyo said as he focused intensely, trying not to look at Tohru's face.

"Kyo, I just wanted-- Mmmf!"

Shigure looked up nervously when he heard a thud from upstairs. _What could they possibly be doing up there?_ He thought, a devilish grin spreading across his face. Apparently Yuki and Kagura had thought the same thing, but had not made the same assumptions. "Shigure! Stop being such a pervert." Yuki chided.

Kagura laughed nervously, wondering what really was going on on the floor above. _I know I told him to go for it, but really?_ This is too much... Just then, the front door was thrown open, admitting a certain long-haired snake.

"SO! What is this rumor that I hear about our own Kyon-kitchi and Tohru--?"

* * *

**Heh~! I just HAD to sneak Ayame in there. He's SOOO funny! really! and i also love how shigure acts. I love writing the weird people's characters... they're the perfect things to use to torture the more-normal-than-them characters... heh heh...**

**--Brio~!**


	3. Chapter 3

**Well, as Emmazippy577 and Tsibizu have pointed out to me (and I thank them for it), It has been a whopping, shameful three years since I started this story. I apologize for both that and the rather quick tie-up ending that I have here, but I hope that it satisfies the audience. It made me sigh to write this (a good kind of sigh, a 'warm-fuzzies' type of sigh). **

**I'd like you all to know, however, that this is, for sure, the last chapter. Sorry to disappoint anyone who had bothered to wait around for it, but at lleast I finished it, right? Hehehe. Yeah. Apologies. Anyway, third and final chapter, we find out what exactly happened, and there's a lot of fluff. Yes. Enjoy.**

**-Brio**

Everyone in the room stared at Ayame, simultaneously wondering how he could have picked up on the latest happenings at Shigure's house so fast, and just how long it would take Yuki to roundhouse him through the wall like he had done to Kyo so many times before. Ayame began to fidget and squirm slightly under the stony glares of Kagura, Yuki and even Shigure, the stare of Ayame's confederate throwing him even more than the other two combined. "Whatever could be amiss?" he gasped dramatically.

Apparently, his attempt to diffuse the tension in the room was a mistake, and before he could react, his younger brother was bodily shoving him back out the door. "Don't come back until I want to see your stupid face, brother or no," the rat was muttering just loud enough for the snake to hear, "and in case you don't know when that will be- it's _never._"

There was something different in Ayame's brother's agitation this time, and so, wisely, he turned and left without another word. Yuki turned away from the door and sighed deeply, sliding down to perch on the ground. He glanced in the direction of the stairs uneasily, but when he heard no sound, pulled himself back up and over to the table where Shigure and Kagura were still seated.

The silence reigned for a beat before Shigure chuckled. "Now it's so quiet up there, I do wonder what sort of mischief our little Kyo has gotten himself into."

Kagura watched as a vein ticked on the side of Yuki's jaw and his fingers curled into a fist, arm cocking backwards. "I do hope that they tell us every. single. detail-" Shigure started, but didn't finish, as Yuki's arm snapped forward and knocked the dog clear across the room.

"Yu-ki! That wasn't very nice!" the man whined, rubbing at his quickly-bruising cheek.

"I know," the rat answered calmly, sneering at the wood grain of the table, "and that's exactly why I did it."

Kagura rolled her eyes as Shigure continued to whine and Yuki continued to reply with a calm venom.

***Meanwhile, Upstairs***

Kyo and Tohru had fallen over in a tangle of limbs, each one going bright red when they had stopped tumbling enough to notice their situation. As quickly and carefully as possible, Kyo untangled the onigiri's arms and legs from his own and placed her on her knees next to him. He huffed and scrambled into a mirroring position, avoiding her eyes as he picked the twig that had caused the whole mess (as well as a few other leaves) from her hair.

"Oh, thank you, Kyo, I'm so hopeless with things sometimes, I'm really sorry I fell on you but at least we're not hurt, right?" Tohru babbled cutely, waving her arms and looking everywhere but at the cat.

He sighed. "I'm really bad at this sort of thing, but can we please talk somewhere? Somewhere... not in the hall?"

Tohru looked around as if seeing their surroundings for the first time, then nodded sheepishly. "Of course. Silly, Silly. Can't have a real conversation on the floor at the top of the stairs," she giggled, knocking her head with her hand as she stood up, "Let's go to my room."

Kyo's mouth went dry as she offered a hand to him to help him up. Inwardly, he cursed, thinking that he should have been the one to do that, but took it nonetheless and enjoyed every short second of their almost-but-not-really hand holding. They shuffled into Tohru's room, neither knowing what to say. After a few moments of quiet, they both spoke up at the same time.

"This is going to sound stupid, but-"

"I'm so sorry, I should have cleaned up in here, it's a mess-"

Kyo froze as Tohru started to tidy up the room, reaching for the shards of broken glass from the window. "No! Don't!" he hissed.

It was louder than he had intended, sounding more like an angry yell, but he knew enough of the girl's clumsiness to see how it would go if she tried to pick the shards of glass up. Tohru twitched, going completely still with hand still outstretched. Tears welled up in her eyes, "I did something wrong, didn't I?"

As gently as he could, the cat put a hand on her shoulder and pulled her back from the glass, kicking himself for scaring her like that. "No, you didn't do anything wrong, I just... Don't want you to cut yourself."

"Oh," she said, staring at her now-trembling hands, "yes. I do that a lot, don't I? So hopeless."

_What?_ Kyo thought, looking at her searchingly, _That sounded rehearsed._

"No, you're not. Not hopeless. Never hopeless. In fact, I-" The cat stopped and cleared his throat, face going red once again, "Look, I came up here to tell you something important. But, ah, jeez, I'm terrible at this whole... Feelings thing."

Kyo's face screwed up as if he had eaten something sour. "Oh, jeez. I suck. Um, let me start over. Okay," his grip on the girl's shoulders tightened slightly, causing her to glance down at his hands, "Okay. Tohru Honda, you... you are clumsy and a little dumb sometimes."

Her small smile fell at that statement. "No!" he hissed, taking her chin gently in his hand and tilting her head back up towards his, "That wasn't the end. You're clumsy and a little dumb sometimes, but that is... well, It's cute, dang it, and it just makes me want to ... protect you, from everything I can, and I'm really bad at feelings and relationships and everything, but I would like to give it a try, if it were with you."

His confession came out rushed and almost-nonsensical, but she wouldn't have wanted it any other way. Tears welled up in her eyes once again, but they were happy tears. Kyo looked as if he were about to say something else, but whatever it was was knocked out of him when his onigiri launched herself at him in a flying-leap-tackle-hug.

_My Tohru._

They sat on the floor of Tohru's room together for quite a while. Kyo gently (and awkwardly) patted her head as he reached an arm around her back, rocking her slightly. After she had curled up in his lap, she had started muttering. It sounded like she wanted to tell him something but it only came out as a muffled, mumbled mess. She seemed to be getting more and more worked up, so Kyo finally pulled her back a bit and looked into her eyes, wanting to calm her down and understand what she was trying to get across.

"They said that no-one would ever like me like that, and that I should just stay there and do what they told me and forget about all of you. But I didn't want to leave you, and Yuki, and Shigure, so I ran away. I wanted to see you all again, I wanted to stay here. What if they come back for me?" She whispered, grasping at Kyo's black shirt tightly.

The hair on the back of the cat's neck stood up straight as he tried to rein in the anger that was quickly surging. He realized that she must be talking about whoever had taken her from them the day before. _Was it really only that short of a time? It felt like ages!_

"Tohru," Kyo said, looking into her eyes, "You need to tell me what happened. Why don't we go downstairs and have some tea, and you can tell me, Yuki, and Shigure. We'll help you and figure this out. Are you ready?"

The girl nodded, burying her face in the side of his neck once more before letting him pull her to her feet shakily. They slowly made their way down the stairs, Tohru clinging close to him and shaking like a leaf. With a pang, Kyo realized that it reminded him of how Kisa had been (minus the lashing out at those who tried to help her). At the table, Yuki and Kagura were having a hushed conversation, as Shigure still pretended to moan pitifully in the corner where he had landed after being punched by the angry rat. When Kyo and Tohru shuffled in, the conversation was dropped and Shigure sat up, immediately picking up on the serious air that had followed the young couple into the room.

"Tohru remembers," was all that Kyo said, before Yuki scooted over to allow the two room to sit. Kagura stood up and excused herself, calling over her shoulder that she would make tea. Shigure only wished that he could run away from the upcoming (undoubtedly emotionally charged) conversation.

It was silent for a few minutes before she talked. The whole time, she stared at the table and had her fingers tangled tightly with Kyo's. Shigure held back a smile. "Two men broke into my room late at night and took me away. I think they were Sohmas; they talked about Hatori, and Akito. They took me to the basement of some building, there were bars on the door and it was wet and dark," she started, shifting closer to Kyo.

Yuki's eyes went wide, thinking back to the cell that Akito had liked to put him in, and wishing that that wasn't what had happened to Tohru. "They kept me in there and just kept telling me that no-one was coming, that no-one cared, and that I would be alone in there forever. They wouldn't let me talk, or move from my spot. They told me such horrible things..."

A low growl filled the room, all eyes snapping to Shigure, who seemed to be the source. "I don't take kindly to those who hurt our precious flower," he said with a growling sniff, shrugging off the intimidated glances.

Tohru shrunk even closer to Kyo's side, and he wrapped an arm around her shaking shoulders. "No-one touched you or hurt you, right, Miss Honda?" Yuki spoke up, his tone deadly quiet and his eyes glowing slightly.

"No, no," she assured him, shaking her head, "They just said mean things, terrible things. I'm never very good with words- there was no way for me to... fight back. I'm so weak,"

Kyo saw red as he heard her sniffle quietly. "No, You're not weak. You're stronger than me. You ran away from them. You got away and you got away unhurt. You're back here now and you're safe. Right here, with me and Yuki and Shigure. We all care about you here and we'll keep you safe."

Yuki seemed surprised to hear such a gentle reassurance from the cat, but wisely chose to say nothing. "Miss Honda, you know that Kyo's telling the truth, right? We won't let anything more happen to you."

"I know," she said weakly, "I know, you're my protectors and my family. I believe you. I just can't help but think that they'll come back, and that they'll hurt all of you just to teach me a lesson."

In a blink and a flurry of movement, Tohru was pulled almost completely into Kyo's lap and was securely wrapped in three pairs of arms. "They can't hurt us," Kyo whispered into her hair, "We're invincible. We've got you."

_This place,_ Tohru thought, relaxing completely into the warmth of the hug, _This place, so full of love, this is where I belong. Those people were wrong. They do care, and because they care, they are stronger than ever. __**We**_ _are stronger than ever. Together._

Gathering up her courage, Tohru smiled and turner her head slightly, placing a sweet, quick kiss on Kyo's cheek. "Thank you, my heroes."

_We would do anything for you, was the unsaid response. When Kagura returned from the kitchen with steaming mugs of tea, Yuki and Shigure moved back to their places, acting as if nothing had even happened, which, of course, the boar knew better than to believe their innocent expressions, but decided to leave the issue alone. Kyo and Tohru stayed locked in a calming and reassuring embrace until the sun went down, filling the house with peace. _

_Everyone slept in the dining room that night, as a way to stay close and assure their beloved Tohru that they would never leave her. She slept better than she had ever slept before in her life, curled up next to her beloved cat and surrounded by friends. The next day would be a beautiful one. As would the one after that, and the one after that, and so on until the end of her days._


End file.
